Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 431My Hero Academia’s original ending wasn’t quite what fans were looking for, and there was some serious misunderstanding among some fans of what the final chapter presented. However, with the addition of the new epilogue in volume 42 of the manga, the true ending of the series has been made far clearer, and it’s become obvious that, despite initial reservations, the series has managed to have a successful conclusion.
There weremany complaints aboutMy Hero Academia’s original ending, especially before it was properly translated. Many fans misinterpreted Deku as being lonely, and having been abandoned by his friends while stuck in a job that wasn’t his dream. This interpretation, while clearly not intended, led to many reading the final chapter as a downer ending, causing no small amount of upset among the fandom. In this interpretation, Deku receiving his special suit was felt to be a tacked-on addition in order to make the ending less depressing, and didn’t do anything to counter allegations of Deku being abandoned by his classmates.
My Hero Academia’s New Ending Makes It Clear: Deku Was Never Alone
The Epilogue Shows Deku Interacting With His Friends As An Adult
When Deku first appears in chapter 431, he’s seen riding in the back of Bakugo’s car, hanging out with him and Kirishima on the way to the Class 1-A party. This is made to seem like a fairly normal thing; during the party, Sato even says that they all got together just recently before this. At the party itself, everyone is interacting happily and chatting like they see each other frequently, rather than reminiscing about the past the way one would expect at a rare class reunion. In this chapter, there’s no reason at all to think that Deku is lonely, or has been forgotten by his friends.
Deku also makes it clear that teaching isn’t some fallback job for him. While speaking to Bakugo, Bakugo offers (in his own way)Deku a position at his hero agency, butDeku turns it down, even stating that if he weren’t Quirkless, and still had One for All, he’d still be a teacher. Being a hero may have been his childhood dream, but like many childhood dreams, the reality can be very different from how it’s imagined, and Deku experienced that fact firsthand. While Deku still wants to be a hero, he sees the value in teaching as being greater, and thanks to his friends, he’s getting the best of both worlds with his new suit.
Then, of course, there’s Deku and Ochaco. It’s apparent pretty early on that the two still think of each other often, although they don’t have any sort of special relationship at the start of the new chapter. Horikoshi made sure to include the two of them taking furtive glances at each other throughout the party, to make it obvious that they do indeed want more. The chapter ends with Deku taking some advice from Bakugo to heart and opening up to Ochaco about his desire to spend more time with her, and Ochaco’s memories of Toga encourage her to do the same, allowing the two to finally start their relationship.
My Hero Academia’s New Epilogue Does Everything It Needed To
The Original Final Chapter Was Too Deku-Focused
One thing that this new epilogue has over the original ending is that, while it still has a lot to do with Deku, it doesn’t focus exclusively on him. The chapter actually opens with Ochaco, not Deku, who doesn’t appear until several pages in. This allows fans to get a read on how other characters are doing, rather than having itall filtered through Deku’s perspective, as the last chapter did. While most characters were name-dropped in that final chapter, this one actually gives them a chance to appear, and therefore gives their fans a chance to have some real closure with their favorites.
Many characters who weren’t acknowledged at all in the original ending get one last shout-out here, such as Class 1-B characters like Kinoko and Kuroiro, as well as still-active pro heroes like Mount Lady, Kamui Woods, and Mirko.Even as small as their appearances are, fans of these characters get to see their aged-up designs, and get some idea of what their lives are like after the story. It also gives a better feel of the state of the world in general–the idea of 20+ of the top heroes all getting together to hang out 8 years ago was all but impossible, whereas now it can happen regularly.
And, while this chapter couldn’t repair the fates ofsome of the more villainous characters, like Togaand Dabi, it does pay them some respect, which helps to take some of the sting out of their deaths. Even all these years later, the villains live on in the memories of the heroes, and that’s about the best that fans of those characters could reasonably hope for.
The New Epilogue Managed What The Original Didn’t
Its Focus on Characters is What The Manga Needed
This new chapter succeeds where the previous final chapter didn’t by putting its focus squarely on the characters that fans have come to love and adore over the past decade ofMy Hero Academia. The original final chapter was simply too narrow in its focus, and it didn’t provide the kind of complete ending that many fans were hoping for. While the other post-war chapters helped, more time was definitely needed for the post-timeskip era–otherwise, there’s no point in doing a timeskip at all.
By countering the direct criticisms of the original ending, expanding the focus to go beyond Deku, andfinally establishing Deku and Ochaco as a couple, the new epilogue has successfully concluded the story in a neat fashion. It’s a far more effective ending than whatMy Hero Academiawas originally given, and hopefully fans will finally be pleased, knowing that Deku didn’t end up as some forgotten loser, but instead got the girl, lived the dream, and found a way to give his life meaning.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
